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 Anatomy of Authoritarianism
in the Arab Republics

By examining the system of authoritarianism in eight Arab republics,

Joseph Sassoon portrays life under these regimes and explores the
mechanisms underpinning their resilience. How did the leadership in
these countries create such enduring systems? What was the economic
system that prolonged the regimes’ longevity, but simultaneously led to
their collapse? Why did these seemingly stable regimes begin to falter? This
book seeks to answer these questions by utilizing the Iraqi archives and
memoirs of those who were embedded in these republics: political leaders,
ministers, generals, security agency chiefs, party members, and business
people. Taking a thematic approach, the book begins in 1952 with the
Egyptian Revolution and ends with the Arab uprisings of 2011. It seeks to
deepen our understanding of the authoritarianism and coercive systems
that prevailed in these countries and the difficult process of transition from
authoritarianism that began after 2011.

joseph sassoon is an associate professor and Al-Sabah Chair in Politics

and Political Economy of the Arab World at Georgetown University. He
has published extensively on the Middle East. His recent publications
include Saddam Hussein’s Ba‘th Party: Inside an Authoritarian Regime
(Cambridge University Press, 2012) and The Iraqi Refugees: The New
Crisis in the Middle East (2009).
Anatomy of
Authoritarianism
in the Arab Republics

joseph sassoon
University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom

Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge.

It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of
education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence.

www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107618312
© Joseph Sassoon 2016
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2016
Printed in the United States of America by Sheridan Books, Inc.
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-107-04319-0 Hardback
ISBN 978-1-107-61831-2 Paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of
URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication,
and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,
accurate or appropriate.
To Rachey
Contents

List of tables page ix

Acknowledgments x
Notes on transliteration xii
Glossary and abbreviations xiii
Map of the eight Arab republics xv
Introduction 1
1 Political memoirs in the Arab republics 11
Specific event biographies 16
Autobiographies (masirat hayat) 19
Memoirs of work and public service 23
Staged memoirs and biographies written by others 28
Autobiography in the third person 33
Conclusion 36

2 Party and governance 38

Structure and ideology 40
Opposition parties 50
Parliaments 58
Governance 66
Conclusion 71

3 The military 73
Military and politics 73
The military and wars 85
Watching the guardians of the nation 94
Officers and soldiers 100
Conclusion 111

4 The role of security services in the Arab republics 113

Common denominators 116
Re-examining the system 144
Conclusion 154

vii
viii Contents

5 Economy and finance 156

Economic policy 158
Economic classes 167
Corruption 176
Conclusion 184

6 Leadership and the cult of personality 185

Leadership 185
Cult 199
Future of leadership and cult in the region 216
Conclusion 219

7 Transition from authoritarianism 221

Governance and politics 222
Economy and corruption 230
Accountability, reconciliation, and reform of security services 236
Tunisia: a case of exceptionalism? 242
Conclusion 249

Conclusion 252
Appendix: Timeline of major events in the Arab republics 270
Bibliography 277
Index 315
Tables

3.1: Arab leaders with military and non-military

backgrounds page 75
5.1: Economies of Arab republics pre-Arab uprisings 157

ix
Acknowledgments

During the years of research and writing this book, I amassed a large
debt of gratitude to many people and a few organizations. Georgetown
University, my new academic home, has been a wonderful and
supportive place for me and I feel fortunate to be at the Center for
Contemporary Arab Studies. Osama Abi-Mershed, the director of the
Center, Rochelle Davis, and Fida Adely are friends and colleagues who
provided help and advice on many levels.
Many colleagues have read chapters and provided excellent
suggestions: Eugene Rogan, Michael Willis, Gretchen Helmke, and
Rochelle Davis. Furthermore, I benefited from discussing the project
with a number of colleagues, among them Martin Dimitrov and Dina
Khoury, particularly at the early stages.
Another organization that I am indebted to is the Woodrow Wilson
Center for International Scholars. During the academic year 2014–15,
I was given a fellowship, which allowed me to write the book in the
most congenial atmosphere possible for scholars. I would like to thank
Haleh Esfandiari and Robert Litwak for their help and encouragement.
The Library team at the Center is a dream team for every researcher:
Janet Spikes, Katherine Wahler, and Michelle Kamalich. A great
advantage of being at the Center is the presence of other fellows and
scholars who provide invaluable suggestions. I would like to thank in
particular Robert Worth, Max Rodenbeck, and Roya Hakakian for
their wonderful friendship and support.
Alissa Walter accompanied this project from its genesis. Her
knowledge of the region and Arabic, her organizational skills, her
research capabilities, and her dedication are truly the envy of any
academic. I thank her profusely for her help. Special thanks are due to
Virginia Myers for help with editing the book in the early stages.
The team at Cambridge University Press has been wonderful. I would
like to thank in particular my copy-editor, Mary Starkey, for her superb
editing, commitment to the project, and attention to detail.

x
Acknowledgments xi

Special thanks are due to the many Tunisians whom I interviewed

while researching the transition chapter who were generous with their
time and shared their thoughts about the past and the future.
Friends and family were once again a source of encouragement. In
particular I would like to thank my childhood friend Terry Somekh,
whose interest in the work at every stage continuously drove me
forward, my mother, who never ceases to support me, my daughter
Rachey, to whom this book is dedicated, and finally to Helen. Her
tremendous encouragement, technical help in the final stages of the
manuscript, her proofreading, and most importantly her love and
friendship are always a source of inspiration and comfort.
Notes on transliteration

For most Arabic names and words, this book uses a modified
transliteration system based on the guidelines of the International
Journal of Middle East Studies (IJMES). In the interest of making
Arabic terms accessible to non-specialist readers, I have only included
diacritical marks for the Arabic letters ayn ( ‘ ) and hamza ( ’ ).
Otherwise, Arabic letters have been transliterated according to the
IJMES system with diacritical markings omitted.
Two important exceptions have been made to this system. First,
correct transliteration can have the unfortunate effect of rendering
famous names unrecognizable, changing, for instance, Gamal ‘Abd
al-Nasser to Jamal ‘Abd al-Nasir or Béji Caïd Essebsi to Baji Qa’id al-
Sabsi. Thus, for heads of state only I have broken with the IJMES
system and have instead used spellings that are more easily
recognizable. For presidents from North Africa, where French is
widely spoken, I have used the common French rendering of names.
For the others, I have used common English spellings. A list of the
names of Arab presidents can be found in Table 3.1.
Second, a small number of the memoirists examined in this book
published their writings in English or French, in addition to Arabic. In
these cases, I consistently used the authors’ own preferred English or
French spelling of their names, rather than using a “correct”
transliteration of their names according to the IJMES system, even
when referring to their writings in Arabic. This applies to authors
such as Mohamed Mzali, Ahmed Mestiri, and Khalid Nezzar.

xii
Glossary and abbreviations

amin shurta deputy inspector

amin sirr party secretariat
amn al-dawla state security organization
al-amn al-ijtima‘i security for social affairs
al-amn al-qawmi national security
badal fee for military exemption
dawla amniyya state dominated by security services
dhikrayat memories
diwan presidential offices
hiwar dialogue
al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun Muslim Brothers
infitah “opening,” economic liberalization
policy
jihaz al-amn al-khass special security organization
jihaz al-mabahith investigation bureau
jihaz al-mukhabarat al-‘amma general intelligence directorate
khaliyya party cell
al-mabahith al-‘amma general investigative directorate
majlis al-nuwwab chamber of deputies
majlis al-sha‘b people’s council
al-makatib al-‘askariyya military bureaus
masirat hayat autobiographies
mudhakkirat memoirs
mukhabarat intelligence services
qasr al-nihaya “palace of the end,” an Iraqi prison
al-qiyada al-qutriyya regional command
risala message
wazir awwal prime minister in North Africa
yawmiyyat diaries

xiii
xiv Glossary and abbreviations

Abbreviations
FLN Front de Libération Nationale (National Liberation Front) –
Algeria
NDP al-Hizb al-Watani al-Dimuqrati (National Democratic
Party) – Egypt
PSD Parti Socialiste Destourien (Constitutional Socialist Party) –
Tunisia
RCD Rassemblement Constitutionnel Démocratique (Democratic
Constitutional Rally) – Tunisia
SSO Special Security Organization – Iraq
Map of the eight Arab republics

Algiers
Tunis SYRIA
TUNISIA Mediterranean Sea Damascus Baghdad
Tripoli
IRAQ
Cairo
er

P
sia
ALGERIA nG
LIBYA u lf
EGYPT

Re
d
SUDAN Se
a
Khartoum
YEMEN
San‘a’
den
f A
lf o
Gu

xv
 Introduction

Five years after the uprisings that swept through the Arab republics in
2011, it is hard to argue that the people in these countries are faring any
better than before, except in the case of Tunisia. All eight republics –
Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen – have
long been characterized as authoritarian regimes. This book seeks to
deepen our understanding of the authoritarianism and coercive systems
that prevailed in these countries, and such knowledge is also critical to
making a successful transition to a more open and free society.
The failure and collapse of countries such as Libya or Yemen, and
Syria’s protracted civil war, suggest that the demise of authoritarianism
in the region is perhaps remote. Western observers’ misunderstanding
of the uprisings was partly due to their lack of awareness of how
authoritarian regimes operated. Many were propelled by a wave of
enthusiasm that engulfed not only local people but also scholars and
commentators. A salutary lesson can be drawn from the continuing
research into Latin American and Eastern European regimes where
authoritarianism has been perpetuated in spite of their apparent transi-
tion to democracy. This underlines the importance of detailed and
accurate analysis of the inner workings of these powerful and pervasive
systems.
When researching my previous book (Saddam Hussein’s Ba‘th Party:
Inside an Authoritarian Regime), which was based on the archives of
the Ba‘th Party regime in Iraq (which ruled from 1968 to 2003), I kept
asking whether the other Arab republics were similar or not to Iraq and
to each other. To answer that question, I would ideally have to examine
the archives of other authoritarian Arab regimes. Unfortunately, they
are inaccessible to any researcher. Consequently, I turned to memoirs
written by those who were embedded in the system: political leaders,
ministers, generals, security agency chiefs, party members, and busi-
nessmen close to the center of power. I also examined memoirs of
people who were on the outside: political opponents of these regimes

1
2 Introduction

and political prisoners. I hoped that a combination of the two

groups – insiders and outsiders – would help in the endeavor to learn
about the coercive tyrannies of the Arab world in spite of being unable
to tap into their closed archives. Secrecy was, of course, the norm in
these regimes and dissent was severely punished, so reliable informa-
tion is not readily available. As Lisa Anderson explains, one of the
dimensions of autocracy is that “neither rulers nor their subjects
have reliable access” to information that would allow proper decision
making.1 Memoirs, however, can partially bridge the gap by revealing
the inner functioning of organizations such as the military or the security
forces. Even more importantly, we gain insights into the thinking of the
leaders of these countries and their relations with their associates.
This book addresses a myriad of questions. How did the different
regimes operate? What was the role of the ruling party in countries with
a multi-party system, like Tunisia and Egypt? To what extent were
repression and violence used, and how did the security services control
opposition and co-opt other influential groups such as labor and stu-
dent unions? How was the executive branch structured, and how
were decisions made? Was Saddam Hussein’s personality cult similar
to or different from that of Hafiz al-Asad in Syria or Habib Bourguiba
in Tunisia? How did economic planning differ? And how did these
regimes tackle their economic problems?
The book is thematic, rather than allocating a chapter to each
republic. It does not intend to be a historical review of events, but
zooms in on certain episodes and trends through the prism of memoirs.
It begins in 1952 with the Egyptian Revolution and ends with the Arab
uprisings of 2011, with a final chapter devoted to the difficult process
of transition from authoritarianism that began after 2011.
The monarchies of the Arab world, like Saudi Arabia, Jordan,
Morocco, Kuwait, and other Gulf countries, are excluded for several
reasons. First, it would have been too ambitious to include them all in
one book. Second, in some monarchies such as Saudi Arabia, political
parties do not exist, and it is very problematic to compare their govern-
ment structure to the republics. Finally, while numerous political

1
Lisa Anderson, “Authoritarian Legacies and Regime Change: Towards
Understanding Political Transition in the Arab World,” in Fawaz A. Gerges (ed.),
The New Middle East: Protest and Revolution in the Arab World (New York:
Cambridge University Press, 2014), p. 48.
Introduction 3

memoirs have been written in Morocco and Jordan, few have emerged
from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.
Among the Arab republics, Lebanon was not covered because of its
particular political structure, and it lacks many of the elements of
authoritarian Arab regimes. Palestine was also not included, since most
of the country still toils under occupation, and while aspects of the
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) are similar to other republics,
it is nevertheless an anomaly. Iran, an obviously authoritarian republic,
is excluded because it is not an Arab state, and its political system is
somewhat unique compared to those of its regional neighbors.
Certain disciplines, such as anthropology and literature, have drawn
widely on memoirs from the region, yet memoirs are less commonly
used as a primary source in modern history and politics, especially in
studies of the Arab world. Historians of other regions have been
quicker to recognize the value of memoirs as a primary source. Given
the lack of archival sources in the Arab world, however, memoirs could
become an essential tool in our study of these countries. Significantly,
the governments that came to power in Tunisia after the fall of Ben ‘Ali
in 2011 refused to open the national archives, fearing that this could
lead to upheavals in the country. One report indicated that files were
burnt in several Tunisian ministries. In Libya, the archives are still
supposedly intact; it is not clear which side controls them.2 Even in
those authoritarian countries around the world that have opened their
archives, as in Russia, scholars regularly complement their work by
poring over memoirs to examine the undercurrents in society and how
those who were on the inside (or outside) perceived the regime.
Because excellent work has already been published about the Arab
world and authoritarianism, to a certain extent this allows us the “lux-
ury” of studying memoirs to complete the picture of political history. The
present book draws on more than 120 memoirs from the eight republics,
as well as recently published testimonies from Tunisia. These testimonies,
which began to be collected after the uprising there, give remarkable
insights into the hidden world of prisons and torture endured by the
many opponents of the previous regime, regardless of their political or

2
‘Abd al-Jalil al-Tamimi (ed.), Dawr al-qasr al-ri’asi fi al-nizam al-Nufimbiri
[The role of the presidential palace in the November regime] (Tunis: Tamimi
Foundation for Scientific Research and Information, April 2014), no. 41,
pp. 15–16. The November regime refers to November 1987 when Ben ‘Ali
took over the presidency in a bloodless coup.
4 Introduction

religious beliefs. No doubt there are memoirs that I have either missed or
could not access, but among those that I read, the all-important questions
I addressed are who wrote them, when and where they were published,
and who their primary audience was. For instance, questions about the
reason why so many Egyptian generals wrote their memoirs will be
addressed in a number of chapters to underline the actual significance
of publishing their memoirs. In addition, a large assortment of scholarly
studies in Arabic, English, and French have supplemented this study.
There is no doubt that memoirs have significant drawbacks, and
these are detailed in Chapter 1. Many were written after their well-
placed authors had left their positions, and sometimes their country.
What authors of memoirs remember, and why, changes over time, and
all these aspects are shaped by the politics of memory. Regrettably, the
memoirs studied here are not divided equally among the eight coun-
tries. From Sudan we have very few, while from Egypt there is an
abundance from a parade of political actors. Needless to say, the
book to some extent reflects this, but I have attempted to compensate
by taking a thematic approach.
I have chosen to focus primarily on how authoritarian systems
operated internally within each of the eight republics. Many memoirs
are centered on major events such as wars or peace negotiations, and
relations with the United States or the Soviet Union. Interesting as these
topics are, they shed little light on internal dynamics. Also, these
memoirs do not explore the role of the superpowers in the region in
strengthening the durability of the regimes internally.
Other limitations of this collection of memoirs have affected the
content of this book. For example, very few women in politics wrote
memoirs or were written about. This is due, in large part, to their
exclusion from key positions of power. In contrast, many biographies
of “famous women” were published in the twentieth century celebrat-
ing their achievements, but unfortunately they do not fit the scope of
this book.3 Second, almost no memoirs of labor movement members or
student union leaders were found that focus on authoritarianism and
its implications for these movements. As a result, I could not examine
issues of gender, education, or labor in great depth, and these are

3
For a comprehensive study of these biographies, see Marilyn Booth, May her
Likes be Multiplied: Biography and Gender Politics in Egypt (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2001).
Introduction 5

mentioned only when referred to by authors. Regrettably, a project

such as this cannot encompass every major aspect of authoritarian
systems or how all segments of society were profoundly affected.
The history of authoritarianism in these eight republics stretches
back before 1952.4 As provinces of the Ottoman Empire they suffered
from tyranny, and then, as colonies of the British, French, and Italians
in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, all were governed
by authoritarian systems. When they became independent republics,
they inherited remnants of despotism as well as limited institutional
capacity. Many scholars have analyzed the problems of authoritarian-
ism in the region in eloquent terms. Prominent among them was ‘Abd
al-Rahman al-Kawakibi (1848–1902), a Syrian official and journalist
who vehemently opposed Sultan ‘Abd al-Hamid, one of the most
tyrannical rulers of the Ottoman Empire. In a short but succinct treatise
titled The Characteristics of Despotism and the Death of Enslavement,
al-Kawakibi discusses the various implications of despotism. He details
the intertwining of tyranny on the one hand, and wealth and corruption
on the other, and does not mince his words:
If tyranny were a man who wanted to talk about himself, he would say: “I am
evil, my father is injustice, my mother is offense, my brother is treachery, my
sister is misery, my father’s brother is harm, my mother’s brother is humilia-
tion, my son is poverty, my daughter is unemployment, my homeland is ruin,
and my clan is ignorance, my country is destruction. As for my religion,
honor and life they are money, money, money!”5

Al-Kawakibi addresses his essay to the youth, so they could learn about
the far-reaching impact of tyranny before it is too late, “before despotism
annihilates the last remnants of vitality in them.” Fearing reprisal, he says
that his booklet is not about a particular ruler but is a discussion of a
general phenomenon. (This theme recurs in many of the memoirs studied
here, even those published long after the rulers have died or been ousted.)
Written more than a century ago, al-Kawakibi’s emphasis on the

4
For a survey of authoritarianism in the Arab world, see Zuhair Farid Mubarak,
Usul al-istibdad al-‘Arabi [The origins of Arab despotism] (Beirut: al-Intishar,
2010).
5
‘Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi, Taba’i‘ al-istibdad wa masari‘ al-isti‘bad [The
nature of tyranny and struggle against enslavement] (Cairo: Iqra’ Foundation,
2013), p. 64. Translation of the quote is from Sami A. Hanna and George H.
Gardner, Arab Socialism: A Documentary Survey (Salt Lake City: University of
Utah Press, 1969), p. 218.
6 Introduction

importance of good governance and the destructive effects of despotism

apply equally today to many of the eight republics. He discusses the
connection of despotism with religion, science, glory, wealth, morality,
education, and progress. Each chapter of his book details those interac-
tions; for instance, he argues that “political despotism is inseparably tied
to religious despotism,” and that “despots, assisted by the clergy, take on
for the common people the powers, attributes, and the very names of
God.”6 Defining despotism, he asserts that it is dehumanizing and demor-
alizes a whole society, and adds: “It is unaccountable, unlimited, arbi-
trary, self-serving, and exclusive rule. It is served by the coercive military
power of the ruler and the incapacitating ignorance of the ruled.”7 In fact,
al-Kawakibi’s treatise is an excellent introduction to authoritarianism
in the Arab world. He manages to cover all the main features of tyrannical
rule and its devastating effects on both the individual and society.
Authoritarianism is not solely a product of the Arab region or
entrenched in its culture. Many revolutionaries around the world,
from Mao in China to Kenyatta in Kenya, never fulfilled their promises
of equality or democracy, and after coming to power they were mostly
interested in staying there. Many of the characteristics and policies of
authoritarian Arab regimes were learned or copied from other regimes,
beginning with the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany in the 1930s, and
continuing with the military dictatorships of Latin America and Asia.
Time and again, the role of the leadership and the centrality of decision
making by the presidents are emphasized here. But as two scholars put it:
“The declaration of absolutism, however, is never true. No leader, no
matter how august or revered, no matter how cruel or vindictive, ever
stands alone.”8 Hence, apart from focusing on leadership, the book looks
at the other main components of authoritarianism: party, military, secur-
ity services, and an economic cronyism that is dependent on the leadership.
Needless to say, there is a wide variety in history, politics, and eco-
nomics among these countries, but the book strives, first of all, to find

6
Al-Kawakibi, Taba’i‘ al-istibdad, pp. 24–40. Translation was taken from
Khaldun S. al-Husry, Three Reformers: A Study in Modern Arab Political
Thought (Beirut: Khayats, 1966), p. 63. For an interesting discussion of
al-Kawakibi’s book and views, see pp. 55–112.
7
See Suzanne Kassab, Contemporary Arab Thought: Cultural Critique in
Comparative Perspective (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010), p. 37.
8
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith, The Dictator’s Handbook: Why
Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics (New York: Public Affairs,
2011), p. 2.
Introduction 7

common features or dissimilarities. Second, I examine the role of coercive

organizations such as the military and security services, and whether that
role changed over time. Third, I explore what kinds of institutions were
established and what their legacies are going forward. Obviously, this is
very pertinent to the chances of a successful transition from despotism.
Fourth, I raise the more hypothetical question of whether authoritarian
rule might return to these republics. Will institutions like the oppressive
security services continue to act as before, and will the new leaders
reinstate a cult of personality to serve their needs and ambitions? By
investigating an extensive collection of memoirs and testimonies from
across these countries, the book will answer those questions judging from
how those on the inside (and to some extent from the outside) perceived
these systems and described their functionality.
The book will argue that the eight republics have far more in
common than was previously envisaged. Variation in degrees of
repression or denial of freedoms is an important distinction among
them, but does not alter the final picture. Attitudes toward violence
differed; some countries engaged in public hangings or assassination
of political opponents, while others abstained from such activities.
However, all the republics used systematic torture in their prisons,
and the structure of their coercive apparatuses did not differ much.
The systems of repression they created or “strengthened” after com-
ing to power were quite comparable; all penetrated their societies by
planting informants at every level, including in the high echelons of
power to ensure the loyalty of the elites. Leadership was characterized
by its centrality, and the decision-making process was in the hands of
the leader with a small cohort of advisers. But it would be a mistake to
imagine that these regimes could sustain power for such a long period
without the critical assistance, to varying degrees, of ruling parties,
security services, and the military. Economic management varied
widely among those countries, but all leaders ensured that their
economic cronies and networks of support would continue to support
the regimes in return for financial benefits.
The book is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 discusses political
memoirs as a source of information for studying the Arab world. It looks
at memory and interrelated issues, and appraises the positives and nega-
tives of studying these relatively neglected memoirs for political analysis
of the region. In a general manner, the different genres of memoirs are
categorized. The lack of personal diaries in the region was striking, and is
8 Introduction

surely due to the state of fear that prevailed. Understanding the reasons
for writing memoirs, the expectations of their authors in publishing
them, and what they included or omitted are all important in under-
standing the personalities of these political actors.
Chapter 2 deals with the ruling party and governance from the per-
spective of these memoirists. Some of these republics, such as Iraq and
Syria, had a one-party system, while others, like Egypt and Tunisia, had
multi-party systems. But there were also countries like Libya, whose
leadership annulled political parties and parliament and created its
own unique system. Through the memoirs of party members, parlia-
mentary opponents, and ministers, the chapter analyzes the substantial
role of ruling parties in perpetuating the regimes. While the triangular
relationship between the leadership, the party, and the bureaucracy
differed from one republic to another, the overall structure of govern-
ance did not vary widely, except in the case of Libya.
Chapter 3 focuses on one of the core organizations in authoritarian
regimes: the military, which had been a vital factor in the histories of these
nations since they gained their independence from the colonial powers
Britain, France, and Italy. Most of the leaders had a military background,
to which they remained connected. Military conflicts and civil wars had
immense political ramifications for these republics, except in Tunisia,
whose leadership managed to keep the army out of politics. Armed
conflicts allowed the authoritarian regimes to stay in power longer by
rallying the population around them and subjugating their opposition.
Yet in spite of the prominence of the military, this chapter will convey
how, once the military leaders became presidents, their relationship with
the military was not always harmonious. An insight is gained by looking
at the lives and careers of military officers through the memoirs they
authored, which mostly indicated the cohesiveness of these institutions.
Chapter 4 dwells on the role of the security services, which were a
cornerstone in establishing these regimes and ensuring their durability.
Heads of security services in almost all the republics wrote memoirs,
mostly to justify their actions. Once again we find many common char-
acteristics. Among them was the fact that all the regimes, without excep-
tion, used imprisonment, torture, and trials as a means of coercing the
opposition in all its shapes and forms. Furthermore, all these regimes
feared the influence of religion and felt threatened by religious movements.
Memoirs of political prisoners portray the extreme suffering of anyone
who opposed or was suspected of opposing the regime, and document the
Introduction 9

extent of violence meted out to opponents and their extended families. The
chapter also reveals how these societies were deeply penetrated by infor-
mants, whose numbers swelled dramatically in most republics. While the
mass of information they gathered was colossal, this did not guarantee
that it was properly analysed or efficiently used; a case in point was the
assassination of Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat, where the informa-
tion was available but the follow-up was flawed.
Chapter 5 discusses economy and finance. It is clear from memoirs
that economic issues were not high on the leaders’ agenda unless facing
a crisis. The majority of leaders focused on staying in power, and
decisions related to military and foreign affairs were far more impor-
tant in their eyes. Hence, most memoirs only delved slightly into
economic issues, but they still convey information about decision mak-
ing and the role of certain prominent businessmen. One feature was
that leaders in most of these republics were not interested in stemming
corruption. Corruption began to gather momentum in the late 1970s,
and became embedded in the political and bureaucratic systems of
these countries, which in turn benefited the economic elites and
strengthened their alliance with the political leadership.
Chapter 6 analyzes leadership and the cult of personality. Leaders of
the Arab republics shared many personality traits, particularly those who
held power for a long time. Each had a deep belief in himself and in his
elevated role toward his country and people. Many believed they were
carrying a divine risala (message) to their people. As they were sur-
rounded mostly by yes-men and sycophants, this conviction intensified
over time. Escaping assassination attempts and overcoming internal
resistance strengthened their determination and self-belief. Memoirs
clearly highlight another common characteristic: the lack of trust in any-
one or anything. While the leaders demanded utter loyalty from those
close to them, and cherished it, they were not always loyal to their friends
or to those who helped them early in their careers. For instance, Gamal
‘Abd al-Nasser, Mu‘ammar al-Qaddafi, and Saddam Hussein removed
most of the men who were alongside them when they assumed power.
Biographies and autobiographies of leaders underline that they chan-
ged with time. Events such as wars impacted them; assassination
attempts and betrayals by those close to them changed their views
and attitudes. Several became old and sick, which altered their behavior
and decision making. Many observers overlook the contribution of the
cult of personality to leadership, or accord it little weight, but the
10 Introduction

evidence is that this was, and remains, an important tool in the political
armory of authoritarianism and was skillfully used by some leaders. It
placed them above recrimination or reproach and made it extremely
hard to resist their ideas or decisions.
The final chapter addresses the burning issues that continue to con-
front these republics on their troubled path of transitioning from author-
itarianism post-2011. Because only a few memoirs discuss this, the
chapter engages in comparisons with other parts of the world to under-
stand this process. For Tunisia, the only country that is truly undergoing
a transition, I interviewed senior people from the previous regime, as well
as current politicians, academics, and businesspeople to gain an insight
into current issues and challenges. The chapter examines three facets of
transition: governance and state–religion relations; economic problems
and corruption; and confronting the past. The chapter also asks if Iraq
after 2003 could become a case study of post-authoritarianism among
these republics. I argue that in spite of the vast differences between Iraq
and the other republics that witnessed uprisings, lessons can still be
learned from Iraq post-Saddam Hussein. Comparative studies show
that when political change is not accompanied by substantial economic
change, there is a risk of reversion on the political front, as old vested
interests can regain control over the political process.
As for dealing with the history of these regimes, it is argued here that
genuine transition cannot take place unless there is reconciliation with the
past. The coercive security apparatus that existed in the Arab region, not
dissimilar from other parts of the world, has to be analyzed and under-
stood. The testimonies of political prisoners recently collected and pub-
lished in Tunisia augur well for its future in that regard. It has become
clear that the scars of the past that remain after decades of tyranny and
terror cannot be obliterated or ameliorated until we more fully compre-
hend the complexities of these despotic and damaging regimes.
Finally, it is hoped that this book will encourage other researchers to
make greater use of memoirs in understanding the anatomy of author-
itarianism in the Arab states, at least until their archives are made
available.
1 Political memoirs in the Arab
republics

The practice of writing biographies and autobiographies has a long

history in both Western and Arabic civilizations. Historians have been
challenged by the subjectivity of personal memoirs since the days of
chronicling the Romans. Commenting on the task facing historians of
England, Benjamin Disraeli wrote: “Generally speaking, all the great
events have been distorted, most of the important causes concealed,
some of the principal characters never appear, and all who figure are so
misunderstood and misrepresented that the result is a complete mysti-
fication.”1 Yet, given the lack of archival resources, the recollections
gathered in memoirs of all types can help bring the past to life in
remarkable ways. As one eminent historian put it:
We historians, too, have to go back and immerse ourselves into that same
“conceptual climate,” to reconstruct what people – leaders and led alike – knew
up to that point, the memories and experiences that shaped their fears,
expectations and mentalities.2

Elie Kedourie’s seminal study about Arab political memoirs in the 1970s
stated: “That they apologize, or palliate or embellish or suppress, in no
way diminishes the value of what they write.”3 From ancient times, those
engaged in political life recorded their deeds and accomplishments in
personal memoirs. The motivation for “presenting one’s life” was seen
as an “act of thanking God and for others to emulate.”4 As Judith Tucker
observes about the role of biographies in the Middle East:

1
Benjamin Disraeli, Sybil, or the Two Nations (Oxford: Oxford World’s Classics,
2008), p. 15.
2
Peter Hennessy, Distilling the Frenzy: Writing the History of One’s Own Times
(London: Biteback Publishing, 2012), p. 19. Lord Hennessey is the Attlee Professor
of Contemporary British History at Queen Mary College, University of London.
3
Elie Kedourie, Arabic Political Memoirs and Other Studies (London: Frank Cass,
1974), p. 178.
4
Dwight F. Reynolds (ed.), Interpreting the Self: Autobiography in the Arabic
Literary Tradition (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001), p. 3.

11
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
doen.—Tegelijk reikte hij Sokrates den beker. En deze nam hem aan
en zeer blijmoedig, o Echekrates, zonder eenigszins te beven of van
kleur of gelaatsuitdrukking te veranderen, maar den mensch met
strak-open oogen aanziende, zooals hij dat gewoon was, vroeg hij:
Wat denkt gij van dezen drank, is het geoorloofd daarvan aan
iemand te plengen of niet?—Zooveel, zeî hij, o Sokrates, mengen wij
C als wij meenen dat voldoende is tot drinken.—Juist, zeide hij.
Maar allicht is het geoorloofd, en ook passend, tot de goden te
bidden, dat de verhuizing van hier eene gelukkige moge zijn. Dit doe
ik dan ook, en moge het zoo geschieden. Dadelijk na deze woorden
bracht hij den beker aan zijn mond en dronk hem vlug en rustig leêg.
En de meesten van ons waren zoolang vrij-wel in-staat onze tranen
in te houden, maar toen wij zagen dat hij dronk en gedronken had,
niet meer, maar bij mij vloeiden de tranen met geweld in stroomen,
zoodat ik mij omhulde en mij-zelven beweende; want over hem
D weende ik niet, maar om mijn eigen lot, van welk een vriend ik
beroofd was. Kritoon was nog eer dan ik uit den kring opgestaan,
omdat hij niet in-staat was zijn tranen te bedwingen. En Apollodoros,
die ook al vroeger niet ophield te weenen, brak toen in luide
jammerklachten los en ontstelde elk der aanwezigen, behalve
Sokrates zelven. Doch deze zeide: Wat-voor dingen doet gij nu, mijn
bewonderenswaardigen! Ik echter heb boven-al om die reden de
vrouwen weggezonden, opdat zij met zulke dingen niet storen
E zouden. Want ik heb gehoord, dat men in heilige stilte behoort te
sterven. Doch houdt u rustig en kloek!—En wij op het hooren
hiervan, schaamden ons en lieten af van weenen. Hij wandelde eerst
rond, en nadat, zooals hij zeide, zijn beenen zwaar werden, legde hij
zich achterover neder. Want zoo verzocht hem de slaaf. En deze,
dezelfde die hem het gif had toegediend, onderzocht tegelijk van-tijd-
tot-tijd zijn voeten en beenen, door die te betasten, en daarop kneep
hij hem sterk in den éenen voet en vraagde of hij het voelde.
Sokrates zeide van-niet. En daarna kneep hij in de scheenbeenen,
118 en zoo omhooggaande, liet hij ons zien, dat hij langzamerhand
koud en stijf werd. Ook Sokrates zelf betastte zich en zeide, dat,
wanneer het zijn hart zoû bereiken, hij dan zoû heengaan. Reeds
begonnen ongeveer de deelen van ’t onderlijf koud te worden, toen
hij zijn gelaat onthulde—want hij had zich omhuld—, en het laatste
woord zeide, dat hij gesproken heeft: o Kritoon, wij zijn Asklepios
een haan schuldig. Geef hem dien en vergeet het niet.—Dat zal
geschieden, zeide Kritoon. Maar bedenk of gij nog iets anders te
zeggen hebt.—Op deze vraag van Kritoon antwoordde hij niet meer,
maar kort daarop kreeg hij een lichten schok, en de mensch
onthulde hem, en zijn oogen stonden star. Toen Kritoon dat zag,
drukte hij hem mond en oogen toe.
Dit was het einde voor ons, o Echekrates, van onzen vriend, een
man, zooals wij zouden zeggen, van zijn tijdgenooten die wij leerden
kennen, den besten, en ook overigens den wijsten en
rechtvaardigsten.
 AANTEEKENINGEN
60D. E u e n o s . Sofist en dichter, afkomstig van
het eiland Paros. Ook elders vermeldt
Platoon hem (Ap. 20B, Phaidros 267A), met
dezelfde goedmoedige ironie als hier.
89C. A r g e i e r s . Toen de Argeiers in 550 hun
zuidelijk grensgebied met de stad Thureai
aan de Lakedaimoniërs verloren, verboden
zij bij wet hun mannen lang haar, en hun
vrouwen gouden sieraden te dragen
zoolang die stad niet heroverd zoû zijn. Zie
Herodotos I 82.
I o l a o s . Neef van Herakles en diens
wagenmenner en trouwe metgezel. Toen
Herakles bij zijn strijd met de Hydra door
een reusachtige zeekrabbe werd
aangevallen, riep hij de hulp van Iolaos in.
Zie Platoons Euthydemos 297C.
90C. E u r i p o s . De om haar onstuimigheid
bekende enge zeestraat tusschen Boiotia
en het eiland Euboia op de hoogte der
steden Chalkis en Aulis.
95A. H a r m o n i a d e T h e b a a n s c h e .
Gemalin van Kadmos den Phoinikiër, den
mythischen stichter van Thebai.
97C. A n a x a g o r a s . Uit Klazomenai in Lydia.
500-428. Beroemd leerling der Ionische
natuurphilosofen. Hij vestigde zich te
Athenai en werd bevriend met den kring van
Perikles. Om zijn atheïstische stellingen
werd hij, evenals later Sokrates, van
„asebeia” beschuldigd en ontkwam alleen
 door Perikles’ invloed aan de doodstraf. Hij
stierf te Lampsakos. Van zijn hoofdwerk
„Over de natuur” bestaan nog slechts
fragmenten.
108D. G l a u k o s . Waarschijnlijk wordt gedoeld op
Glaukos van Chios, den uitvinder van het
soldeeren van ijzer. Zie Herodotos I 25.
118A. Wij zijn A s k l e p i o s een haan schuldig.
Het gewone offer aan den god der
geneeskunde, wanneer men van een ziekte
is hersteld.

Colofon
Duidelijke zetfouten in de originele tekst zijn verbeterd. Wisselende spelling is
gecorrigeerd. Daarnaast is aangepast:

Pagina Origineel Aangepast

5 Apollodoras Apollodoros
14 bovenal boven-al
14 daarstraks daar-straks
16 allang al-lang
20 allang al-lang
22 ten-minst tenminste
25 voorzoover voor-zoo-ver
26 wordingsovergang wordings-overgang
26 wordingsovergangen wordings-overgangen
28 methematische mathematische
30 daarstraks daar-straks
36 ons-zelven onszelven
41 een een een
42 voorzoover voor-zoo-ver
43 zonderdat zonder dat
60 mijzelf mij-zelf
61 mijzelf mij-zelf
66 mijzelf mij-zelf
88 zoo-lang zoolang
 *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PLATOONS
PHAIDOON ***

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